High Oil Prices Herald Era of Hard-to-Get Resource

The energy apocalypse has arrived, say doomsayers. In fact, it came a few years ago, when the world reached the maximum rate of petroleum production, known as the peak oil. Output has been declining since then. The doomsayers say the trend will only accelerate, with grave consequences for the world economy.

But most mainstream energy economists throw cold water on what they see as these overheated predictions.

The peak oil theory is highly controversial, not least because reliable data are difficult to find in the oil markets. While some say a peak in oil production is unlikely before 2020, others claim it is already here or will come very soon.

But beyond the issue of the exact timing of peak oil production, experts agree that the era of easy oil, and by the same token of cheap transportation fuel, is over.

Michelle Foss, the head of the Center for Energy Economics at the University of Texas at Austin, told America.gov that in the medium and long term, petroleum supply will stay behind demand, keeping prices high. And most energy experts agree.

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